Improvement in hen s nests



H. B. MORRISON.

HENS NEST.

No. 191,166. Patented May 22,1877.

INVENT'EHR N. PETERS, PHOYO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON n10.

" A'rENr Genoa.

HORATIO B.- MQBRISON, OF MASON QITY, IQVVA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HENS NESTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. IQLHLG, dated May 22,1877; application filed February 10, 1877.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HORATIO B. MORRI- SON, of Mason City, in the countyof Oerro Gordo and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Hens- Nests Door and Entry; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains tomake and use it, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings,whichform part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in hens-nest door and entry; andit consists in the arrangement and combination of devices that will bemore fully described hereinafter, whereby, as the hen enters the door,and passing through the entry, she closes a slatted door behind her, soas to keep out other hens, and as the hen leaves the nest this dooropens before her and leaves the nest open.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinalsection of the same.

(1 represents the door and entry, of any desired shape or size, throughwhich a hen passes to get to the nest, and which is provided with ahinged cover, b, so as to enable a person to have easy and free accessto the nest. On each side of the entry, at the back end, is securedposts a, which have holes through each end, so as to enable the entry tobe fastened to a barrel, box, or any other suitable place in which a henmay have her nest. Through each side of the back end of the entry a isout an opening, d, and extending through the openings entirely acrossthe entry, at some distance above the floor, is a bar, a, which has itsends fastened to the two short ends of the pivoted levers g. Theselevers are pivoted, outside of the entry, to the couplings z, with thecranks j on the ends of the shaft 1 or beam, to which the slatted door mis rigidly secured. These slats are rather widely separated from eachother, so as to admit light, and induce her to walk toward that end ofthe entry to get out, and

leaves the door open for the next hen.

The bottom of the entry is hinged at the back end of the entry, and hasits opposite end held constantly pressed upward by means of the springn. The free end of this bottom 0 is contestant means of a rod, 1, with apivoted rocking bar, 2, in the extreme upper corner of the entry. As thebottom is pressed downward by the weight of the hen as she walks towardthe door, the bar 2 is pulled downward on its inner side, throwing theouter edge upward, and thereby raising the spring-catch 3, secured toit, from over the edge of the door. Also secured to this rocking bar 2is a curved rod, 4, which, as the bar tilts, strikes the door from theinside and pushes it down, leaving the hen free to walk out. As the henpasses through the entry she steps on the bar 6, which causes the shortend of the lever g to be depressed, and the long ones to draw the crankjupward, thereby closing the door behind her, which rises upward, and isheld in that position by thecatch 3.

When the hen moves toward the door, and steps on the floor of the entry,her weight on the floor opens the door, and .she' passes out, leavingthe door open for the entrance of another hen. As the door falls the bar0 is raised upward, and remains in that position until again depressedby the weight of the hen.

By means of this invention onlyone hen at a time can set on a nest,instead of two or more getting in the same nest. When a number of hensget in the same nest, as they always will do when let alone, they areapt to get killed or sick, and the eggs in the other nests get cold andspoil. It also prevents the hens, while in the nest, from beingdestroyed or killed by animals of any kind.

, Having thus described my invention, I claim-' 1. In a hens-nest entry,the combination of the bar 0, lever g, crank j, and a door for closingthe end of the entry, substantially as shown.

2. The combination of a hinged floor, spring connecting-rod, pivotedrocking-bar,

. and the catch, whereby the door is held shut and released,substantially as described.

3. The rocking-bar, connected to the floor, and provided with a catchfor holding the door and a device for pushing the door open,substantially as set forth.

.In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have herei'into set my handthis 18th day of January, 187 7 HORATIO B. MORRISON.

Witnesses J. J. CLARK, JAMES ALLINGHAUS.

